Wednesday, November 12, 2014

The fiftieth anniversary of the release of Eric Dolphy's ultimate masterpiece Out to Lunch and his tragic death in Berlin have spurred a wave of attention to his work and a number of tribute albums including this one. Pianists Aki Takase and Alexander von Schlippenbach lead a large band in providing fresh arrangements of some of Dolphy's most well known pieces. They open with one of his early compositions, "Les" which features a spritely saxophone solo with horns riffing happily in the background. There is an interlude of bass clarinet, one of the instruments that Dolphy was a master of, and then fine sections of horns and brass and then piano, bass and drums. Eric Dolphy's tribute to Thelonious Monk, "Hat and Beard" follows with some fascinating piano work, percussive and deeply ingrained with the lowest notes of the instrument. The tune is taken at length, developing a suite like structure with the soloists and full ensemble hinting at the melody throughout. The music loses a little bit of 0it's edge during the middle of album (a live recording) but builds back up to speed with "Miss Ann". Horns swirl playfully with the melody, backed with urgent drumming by Han Bennink, who played a session with Dolphy as young man in 1964. Saxophones whoop as the fire is further stoked by a swinging piano solo and a hot duet of saxophone and drums. Finally, "Out to Lunch" brings the proceedings to a rousing conclusion, featuring a righteous Bennink drum solo developing into the rattling march that Tony Williams used on the original recording. The wonderful melody is finally stated and then the horns take the music to the heavens. This is a fitting tribute to Eric Dolphy's memory, he was one of the most unique and talented musicians in jazz history and his compositions sound as fresh as anything being written today. So Long, Eric! - Homage to Eric Dolphy - amazon.com